Only Slightly Tarnished
by Moony-Blues
Summary: A series of Cain-centric ficlets inspired by a coule of prompt communities on livejournal. It is rated "M" for a reason, and it is not fluff. Proceed with caution: you have been warned. Ch 2: Adora had plenty of time for reflection in her new "home..."
1. Eternal Imprisonment

**Story ****Title**: Only Slightly Tarnished  
**Chapter Title**: Eternal Imprisonment  
**Author**: Moony-Blues  
**Fandom**: Tin Man  
**Prompt**: Table 1:1 "Cell"  
**Character**: Wyatt Cain  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Word Count**: 958  
**Summary**: What really happened inside the Iron Maiden?  
**Warnings**: This ficlet contains very dark themes, including rape. Proceed with Caution.

It was meant to be a permanent prison, this damnable cell made of metal and molded into the shape of a man. The Iron Maiden was the Sorceress' pride and joy, a self-contained stasis unit that bound a man in one place for all of eternity, allowing him neither rest nor death. He'd scratched and pounded at the hinged front of it until his fingers and knuckles bled, yet the steel was unyielding and unchanged. Even the bright red blood flowing from his hands left no blemish.

Tears ghosted down Wyatt Cain's cheeks as he watched the first loop of the hologram. He couldn't look away; the casket did not allow the freedom of movement to even turn his head. Closing his eyes, he still saw the images, still heard the screaming, still felt his heart rend. He clenched his jaw, which was still on fire from the beating he'd just received, and willed himself to be anywhere but there. He didn't need the images to remember every blow. He could count the bruises and broken bones just by feeling them.

The image suddenly shifted, the holo not following his struggle against the men who forced him into the Maiden. A lump of fire formed in his throat when he saw Zero turn his attention toward his wife. The evil twist of a smile forming on Zero's lips was unmistakable. Wyatt didn't need to see the Longcoat Captain unbuckle his belt to know what was going to happen next. But he did see it, no matter how tightly shut he clenched his eyes. He saw it all, from his Adora's horror stricken eyes set wide in fear to the gleeful satisfaction on Zero's face when she screamed as his men tore her skirt. It played out in his mind exactly as it did in the holo, poured into his perception by the same magic that would keep him alive to see this torture play out for all eternity.

A deep-throated roar of rage rose from his throat as he saw one of Zero's men push his son, Jeb, to his knees in the background and hold his head so that he, too, was forced to watch. The boy was terrified, his face pale as death and his eyes echoing hopelessness. Any rage from which Jeb had drawn strength at the beginning of the encounter had been beaten from him. Blood issued from a cut above his eye and a split in his lips; bruises had already begun to form on his arms and cheek.

Wyatt resumed his pounding on the metal, fighting desperately to get out. It was the only way that he knew how to deal with the rage, fear, despair and every other emotion that was piling up in his heart. He still saw the holo, but paid it no mind until he saw Zero dragging Adora and Jeb away. The words the man spoke to the boy, no doubt magically enhanced, chilled Cain's blood even more than the vacantly haunted expression on his beautiful wife's face.

_I've been waiting a long time to do that…and someone else has been waiting longer to do you._

His family, his precious wife and son, were reduced to objects before his eyes, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Everything that he had done to protect them, joining the Resistance, moving them to a more secluded location, removing himself from them so they couldn't be used against him, it had all come to nothing. In the end, it didn't mean a damn.

Cain broke into sobs as the images briefly dissolved and Wyatt heard for the first time the loud clicking of the projector as it reset itself, preparing to play its gruesome loop again. His entire existence dissolved into despair. He couldn't shut his eyes, couldn't turn off the projector, couldn't beat his way to freedom. Helplessness and hopelessness had never settled well with him before, but now they felt like a dead weight wrapped around his ankles.

He lost track of time as he fought a battle in his mind to think of anything other than the scenes in front of him. Always a man of discipline, he'd never before found it hard to will his mind into submission. Then his body mercifully gave him something else upon which to focus his attention. Apparently, the magical stasis didn't prevent his feet from feeling the constant pressure of standing. Despite how trite and trivial it might have sounded to anyone else, he welcomed that pain. It was something normal in this hell of magical design.

He heard Adora scream again as Zero forced his way into her and though he refused to look up he saw every thrust. _Oh gods! Please make it stop!_ If anything would destroy a man, it was this. He felt his heart being crushed, literally squeezed in a vise, the painful constriction laboring his breathing. His arms began to ache to hold his wife, to feel the comfort of her weight in them.

The days passed, and Wyatt tried to count them. He lost that battle after the first week. Nothing could hold back the images. Nothing could drown out the sounds. Nothing could stop the pain in his heart. Still the days passed, one by one, until he had no idea how long it had been since that horrible day.

Each time the holo looped, another piece of him died. Rage turned into a drive for revenge. Fear became compulsion. Despair burned into the ash of hopelessness. Every fiber of his being focused on a plan, a foolish, desperate gambit that he _would_ carry out if he ever got the chance. He would make Zero pay, and pay dearly.

**Author's Notes:** I really debated about whether or not to post this ficlet, especially after reading one of the entries on tinman-meta on livejournal. However, my muse is rarely ever wrong, and she latched on to this pretty tightly after I found 10-prompts (also on lj) and claimed my table. I'm not entirely certain about the rating, but I'm calling it "M" just to be safe. Please don't "flay me like a munchkin."


	2. Oh Love

**Title**: _Only Slightly Tarnished_, Chapter 2: "Oh Love"

**Authors Notes/Disclaimer**: The muse is responsible. She latched on to this song, again, like a Papay on fresh meat. The song is "Oh Love," written by Aimee Mayo, Gordie Sampson, and Hillary Lindsey, and recorded by Brad Paisley, featuring Carrie Underwood. It's dripping with angsty goodness, and I'm sure that those who know the song will agree. Warning: angst lies within, in the form of implied rape, pedophilia, and homosexuality. If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. :D

Many thanks to my wonderful betas and editors: PalisDelon, chichuri, verilyverity, and caroly214 (all on LiveJournal).

**Summary**: Adora Cain had plenty of time for reflection in her new "home…"

* * *

Adora Cain had plenty of time for reflection in her new "home," as her captors had fondly referred to it. Her first few days were filled with abuse, in all its hideous forms, at the hands of Zero and his lackeys. Bruised skin, bleeding lips, and excruciating pain were only the physical signs. She had yet to experience the full force of the emotions that would arise out of it.

Not that they hadn't already begun to rear their ugly heads. Just days into her imprisonment, she'd come out of her initial stupor only to find herself hating her husband. And it wasn't just a fleeting, superficial spite born of anger. It was a hate that bit at her bones and caused her stomach to churn with bile.

It had been all too easy to blame Wyatt after Zero locked them up in the tower. He was the one who had insisted on doing what he thought was the right thing. Joining the resistance had been his idea. She'd only reluctantly agreed, especially after the Last Stand when Zero had vowed to hunt them down. Wyatt had known how vicious and sadistic Zero could be, but that hadn't persuaded him to change his mind.

_And now_…

Now all that was left of their life together was the ring on her hand.

Or, at least it _had_ been the only thing left. In a fit of rage, she'd ripped it from her finger and thrown it through the tiny barred window of the dank cell. That was after one of the longest periods of humiliation and degradation she'd ever had to endure. Zero had grown tired of her after only a week and had given her over to his men for their _entertainment_. Her bitter tears had terrified her son, who had been left mercifully untouched to that point.

She had more reason to hate and blame her husband a week later. Zero came again. Jeb, in a manner that would have made his father very proud, had placed himself in front of his mother. Zero had only smirked. Adora's heart sank like lead into her stomach at the evil and malicious intent in that smirk. She flew to her son, trying to keep him from the same horrors to which she had been subjected.

Adora had screamed, pleaded, and begged, all to no avail. The men were so much more powerful than either of them. They had dragged Jeb, kicking and screaming, out of the cell and down the dark corridors. His cries had echoed through the halls long after they had disappeared from sight. Hearing them rent Adora's heart even further. She sank down against the wall, tears streaming down her face, tears that had she had not allowed herself to cry since they had been brought here.

Hours passed, hours filled with worry, anxiety, and crushing fear. Adora soon realized that she was ashamed of herself for her anger and resentment. It wasn't going to help her and her son endure this hell-hole. It wasn't going to help her husband survive the hell she knew he was enduring.

She staggered a little as she paced back and forth in the filthy cell. For the first time, Adora let herself think of what happened at the cabin. She remembered the chilling sight of the Iron Maiden in their lawn, a vision she had suppressed until that moment. Fresh tears came to her eyes.

_Oh Wyatt! Why? Why did you have to be so noble? Why couldn't you have just…_

Adora couldn't finish that thought; she knew why. His love for her and their son was only one reason, though certainly not the least, he'd had to make a stand.

Adora heard the heavy stomping of boots approaching down the corridor and watched helplessly as the Longcoats carried Jeb back to their shared cell. They threw him through the door to the ground. She was dismayed over the bruises she could see through the tears in his clothing. The state of his trousers, which had been haphazardly pulled over his hips, spoke of the exact nature of the torture he'd endured. She put her hand on his shoulder to pull him into an embrace. Jeb resisted at first, recoiling in horror. He ended up in her lap, anyway.

Adora sat on the floor of the cell, her resisting son wrapped tightly in her arms. She felt all traces of hatred and rage toward her husband melt away, replaced by brokenness and sorrow. This was her little boy, the same one she had rocked to sleep while she sang 

lullabies to him. This was the little boy who had idolized his father, had played cops and robbers with his best friend in the back yard, had come home every day from school and play with a new scrape on his knees or elbows. He would never be that little boy again, and that thought chilled her to the bone.

Jeb's violent sobbing slowly subsided to quiet sniffling but his tears continued to fall onto the tattered fabric of her bodice. She whispered reassurances, what little she could, until the shaking boy turned into her arms and buried his head in her bosom. At first, his words were incoherent and his shoulders quaked. In between hiccups, he told her all that she needed to know.

"Mom, it hurts!"

"Shhh…" she whispered as she stroked his tangled hair. She gently rocked him, her thoughts straying to her husband. Her own tears fell to join those of her son.

_Oh, Wyatt…_

She held Jeb tighter and began to sing:

"_Oh love, oh love  
Oh the many colors that you're made of  
You heal, you bleed  
You're the simple truth and you're the biggest mystery  
Oh love, oh love"_

It was a simple song that she'd heard a long time ago, one that she'd started using as a sort of lullaby just shortly after things in the Outer Zone had started to go all to hell. Her voice wasn't trained or beautiful; it was simple and fair, the notes ringing clearly in the small confines of the dank cell. As she sang the words again, Jeb began to calm. After a few more minutes, he was asleep.

The heart-broken mother slumped against the cold stone wall, her son still nestled in her lap. Even though Jeb was asleep, Adora kept singing, allowing the words to infuse her with a quiet strength. She was broken, bruised, and battered, but she'd be damned if she'd just lie down before the wolves.

She'd never been a soldier. That had always been Wyatt's job. She'd always been the rock, the support, the one from whom others had drawn strength. Her strength had always been given to others. Now she had to find a way to harness that strength for herself.

"_Oh love, oh love  
Oh the many colors that you're made of  
You heal, you bleed  
You're the simple truth and you're the biggest mystery  
Oh love, oh love"_

Adora sang the words again. This time, her thoughts turned toward her husband. She closed her eyes, focusing all of the love she had for him and hoped he could feel it.

_It's not going to be easy, Wyatt, but I'll be strong for you. We'll find you, somehow. We will__ find you!_

* * *

Full Lyrics for "Oh Love:"

_Strong, like a mother holds her child  
Free as horses running wild  
And real as a prayer on a lonely night  
As sure as the ocean tide_

_Oh love, oh love  
Oh the many colors that you're made of  
You heal, you bleed  
You're the simple truth and you're the biggest mystery  
Oh love, oh love_

_Deep as the life from God's own breath  
Endless even after death  
Gone like the sunset_

_You can break a heart in pieces  
Put it back together again  
You can break down sweet forgiveness  
You're the one that never ends_

_Love_

_Oh love, oh love  
Oh the many colors that you're made of  
You heal, you bleed  
You're the simple truth and you're the biggest mystery  
Oh love, oh love_


End file.
